


Friends

by KyryeDuBarie



Series: Kurotsukki Med!AU [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Miscommunication, Romance, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, guess what grew a plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:22:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25680520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyryeDuBarie/pseuds/KyryeDuBarie
Summary: Maybe he was wrong, the last day they saw each other when he stayed the night and made Tsukishima breakfast and it felt... it felt like something.But perhaps he got ahead of himself.----------Or, post-op restrictions make Kei overthink and Tetsuro is just confused.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Kurotsukki Med!AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851001
Comments: 15
Kudos: 125





	Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiii! I know I should be working on my other story's epilogue.  
> But this grew a plot.  
> I'm not sure if I should continue posting them like this or make the next one a multichapter.  
> I really hope they're not too OOC.

Tetsuro's weeks are almost always heavy.

It has gotten better with the hour restrictions, but there always comes a point in which he is in surgery after six and he can't just walk out, or realizes that he has made commitments to publish something or other that takes a lot of time and work, and the hours pile on.

And that's fine, it's seriously ok, he knew what he was signing up for and he does love his residency.

The whole month of July however was, slightly, easier on him than usual.

Only it wasn't. Now that he thinks about it, he just felt happier and more energetic than usual, and that... that had a reason for it.

Which he would rather not think about right now.

It's Wednesday night and he's freezing his ass off in the OR, finishing up an operating note from an appendectomy, and his phone doesn't ring. His phone has been ringing a lot less than usual as of late -and he has friends like Bokuto, so for it to be noticeable it's... well, bad- and Tetsuro know exactly who it is that's missing.

Granted, he's no stranger to being busy and falling behind in texting or calling people back, but he's not a fool either, and after a week and a half of bed-rest, no less, he figures that it's fair to assume that Tsukishima is ignoring him.

_**TO: SHORTCAKE-02:37** _

_**image attached**_

_You should get this for Rex._

He scrolls up to see the streams of messages. Tsukishima only answers one of every five or six of them, and yes, Tetsuro texts a lot, and sometimes he texts stupid stuff-obscure memes, way too many cats- that he understands the blond not responding to.

Sighing, he turns back to the note, this really shouldn't have him so worked up.

Maybe he was wrong, the last day they saw each other when he stayed the night and made Tsukishima breakfast and it felt... it felt like _something_.

But perhaps he got ahead of himself.

He looks through the messages again and closes the chat, there's no way Tsukishima is going to answer at this hour. Maybe his head will clear with some coffee, the cold seeping into his bones might lessen with that too.

In the quiet of the night, the rustle of his clothes and his soft footfalls are deafening.

.

.

Kei's phone vibrates, just as he is getting another cup of coffee.

These two godforsaken weeks of 'rest' have thoroughly fucked with his sleep schedule.

"Damn appendicitis." he curses to no one in particular, though Rex, curled up in his bed startles and looks up at Kei with disapproval at being awakened.

He cradles the cup of coffee in his hands, the heat is pleasing, as is the bitterness of the drink, warming him as it goes down.

It's not pleasing, however, when in his haste to return to the paper he's chosen to occupy this slew of unexpected free time on, he spills coffee in his sweater.

Or well, Kuroo's sweater.

That he's wearing for some reason when it doesn't even smell of the man anymore -it's been two weeks, he had to wash it at some point- and Kei has a bunch of perfectly wearable sweaters of his own. But somehow this one feels better, the shoulders are too wide, and for some reason the sleeves reach his fingertips, he's sure his arms are longer than Kuroo's but the plum-colored sweater seems to have other ideas.

He really should give it back.

Kuroo and him aren't even- well, anything, maybe friends if one took the whole fucking in on-call rooms thing out of the equation, but even then, would Kuroo want to be friends with Kei if he did? There's only one way to test that and Kei isn't partial to it.

So, just a hospital fling, he figures.

And Kei's no stranger to those, his intern year back home in Miyagi was... interesting, to say the least.

There are a few rules however to these things, and Kei doesn't want to be that person, the one that gets clingy and annoying and ends up pitied by every other person that finds out -which, let's be sincere, in a hospital, is everybody-, the one that everyone thinks is a fool.

So, as to avoid such a situation, seeing as the, uh- sexual part of this is kind of on hold at least until he gets his stitches out, he has been trying to play cool to Kuroo. It has admittedly not been easy -Kei knows he's being a bit of a hypocrite here as he already sort of is that person, but he tries no to think about it too often- in a mere month, Kei got used to constant texting and, all the other stuff, lots of other stuff.

His phone vibrates again.

_**FROM: KUROO TETSURO GS -02:37** _

_**image attached**_

_You should get this for Rex._

The photo is of a bear hat that wold admittedly look horribly cute on the cat -for the few seconds it would tolerate the outfit before it rebelled and killed Kei-.

He finds himself smiling at the text, a pleasant tingle spreading from his belly to the rest of his body.

Kei's hands curl into fists and he drains his coffee cup.

He'll answer tomorrow.

.

.

Tetsuro is not some angry monster.

Seriously, he's not even propense to yelling like Iwaizumi from sports medicine -though he's one of the nicest people ever, yelling aside-.

And in general people like him.

Maybe he's become spoiled by that.

Because he's really irritated right now. It's Wednesday, two and a half weeks after he drove the snarky blond to the ER, and he was just leaning on the nurse's stand, going through some of the charts when he spotted the shock of blond hair out of the corner of his eye-and the height, Tsukishima should stop thinking he's in any way someone who can hide easily-. He managed to catch Tsukishima's eye for a second and then- then the blond hid in a supply closet.

Literally hid in a supply closet.

_Who does that?_

Tetsuro checks his dark blue scrubs for funny looking stains -always a possibility when checking catheters and helping change dressings, and walks right over there. He leans on the doorframe, hand on his hip, eyes narrowed. "Fancy meeting you here Tsukki," he smirks. "I didn't know you'd changed careers."

The blond, in a beige, collared shirt and jeans that hug his shapely legs, glares up at him from where he's crouched over his backpack. "Very funny." his eyes narrow even further. I ducked in here to fix a shoelace."

Both of them know it's a lie but Tetsuro plays along, for the sake of seeing where it goes. "Wouldn't want to get knocked over by a stray gurney, right?"

Tsukishima smiles wryly. "You never know when they might call a code."

"How careful of you." Tetsuro scoffs. "I'd be wary too, after that whole morphine incident." he stops for a second. "You were cute though, I'll admit to that."

Tsukishima shrugs and stands up, holding something out to Tetsuro. "You left this at my house. " He says, and Tetsuro immediately recognizes his favorite sweater. "I wouldn't have brought it if I thought you were going to be an ass about it though."

Tetsuro takes the sweater in hand, meeting that defiant gaze with one of his own. "What can I say, it's fresh in my memory," he says, turning the sweater over in his hands, it's warm for some reason and he has a bit of an urge to smell it. Of course, he doesn't. "Thanks, it's one of my favorites. I almost thought it was lost forever, what with all this time passing." He says dramatically.

"I've been busy. "Tsukishima defends, stepping past him into the far better-lit corridor.

Tetsuro raises an eyebrow at him. "On bed rest?"

"I'm working on an article, a couple of them," he says, heading to the nurse's stand, a hint of pink high on his cheeks. "A couple of them actually." he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "That's why I'm here actually I need access to the databases." he turns around and heads down the corridor. "See you later." he says over his shoulder."

Tetsuro clenches his fists.

And he follows.

.

.

Kei's walking as fast as his legs allow.

Which considering he's one hundred and ninety-five centimeters tall, is a lot.

But Kuroo is like five centimeters shorter than him, so he can also walk quite fast. And then Kuroo did not just spend two and a half weeks laying on his couch reading scholarly articles and eating ice cream.

"Hey!" he hears him yell behind him "How's your wound doing?"

So he's just going to ignore it? Or maybe he didn't notice? God, Kei hopes he didn't notice that the showed up wearing his sweater. In his defense, at this hour on Wednesdays Kuroo is usually in surgery, so Kei thought he could pop by to talk to Yamaguchi and somehow bribe _him_ into delivering the sweater.

"Fine," he answers, walking faster still, though Kuroo has now caught up to him. "I'm due for the stitch removal this afternoon."

He leans over the nurse's stand, seeking out Tadashi but he doesn't seem to be around "W-well, I can do that for you?" Kuroo says beside him. Kei turns t shoot him a disbelieving glance and the man shrugs, suave as always. "No reason for you t come back in the afternoon for something that silly."

Kei rolls his eyes. "I wouldn't occupy a third-year resident on something that-" he pauses as Kuroo looks him over, teeth catching on his full lower lip. "-silly."

Kuroo is really making this hard, although, well, at this point they could probably already do some things. "I-" Kuroo probably knows better than he does. "Alright."

The man's head tilts to the side, eyes widening in slight confusion. "S-sure" he stammers. "Uh, procedure room?"

Yes, _fuck_ , Kuroo is making this so hard. "Sure." Hopefully, he turns around fast enough that Kuroo can't see the embarrassment in his face as he walks briskly to the procedure room, keeping his eyes off Kuroo as he lays down on the bed.

It's too easy to flirt when he gets caught up in the man's eyes, in his smirk. Kei looks away and pulls up his shirt, also tugging at the pants to properly expose the wound. His muscles tighten as Kuroo's fingers brush over his lower abdomen. "You scar nicely." the man's rough voice sounds above him. "You're barely going to have a mark."

"That's nice, no scar." Kei rolls his eyes, finding nothing else to say, cheeks flushing, feeling goosebumps rise along his stomach.

Kuroo peels open the scalpel blade and his eyes rove over Kei's stomach. "You're thinner," he says as he cuts the thread and pulls it loose.

"Funny, I've spent these past two weeks eating ice cream," he snaps dryly, eyes fixed on the light green wall to the side. 

"I guess you're lucky. There, done." Kuroo says, turning around. And for a second Kei thinks he's going to be lucky enough, that that is going to be it. "Are you mad at me Tsukki?"

And it isn't.

How does one put into words the uncertainty, the want, the pandemonium of feelings that have been assaulting him whenever he's not neck-deep in articles or anything else for the past few weeks? "Uh- No?"

Kuroo turns around, eyes narrowed. "Are you asking me?"

"No? No, I mean I'm not mad, you caught me off-guard."

"Oh ho?" Kuroo's eyebrows rise. "It feels a lot like you are. Ignoring me since you got the surgery."

Kei sits up, shrugging his shoulders as he goes, and avoiding Kuroo's gaze. "I've just been busy."

"C'mon, can't you be an adult about this?" Kuroo's eyes are fire, even when he's not looking into them directly, Kei flinches. "I mean I get it if you want to stop, no hard feelings."

Kei narrows his eyes at him. "Do you want to stop? Am I boring already? Kuroo-san?" He chances a look up to Kuroo's face which is twisted in annoyance. "It's not like I've been interesting these past few weeks I guess."

"I wouldn't know," Kuroo says, mimicking his nonchalant tone. "I haven't seen you."

For a moment, they're both silent, and Kei doesn't understand how this escalated so quickly, a couple of minutes ago they were being cordial, now they're at the other's throats. But that's how things have been with Kuroo since the beginning, inexorable, explosive.

Like a train crash.

Kei does want him but this is becoming way more than he can bear, he doesn't want someone trailing behind him like this, reproaching what he does when this was supposed to just be sex. And hell, Kei was careful, he avoided getting too close, if he had not gone and gotten fucking _appendicitis_.

He lifts his chin defiantly. "Then I guess that's your answer..." Kuroo's face falls and Kei almost backtracks. "Wai-I-"

"Uh, Tsukki?" His eyes fly to the door, where the very familiar face of his best friend is gaping at them.

How much did he hear? God, of all people to hear that it just had to be the one whose opinion Kei actually cares about. And he can see it on the man's face.

But it's Kuroo that speaks then, face splitting into a smile so bright and so fake that Kei can't help but wince. "I'll leave you two to it," he spits. "See you later Yamaguchi-kun."

Kei sits there, frozen for a second as the man disappears into the corridor. Tadashi steps forward, eyes wide, astonished. "Let's go have coffee."

.

.

This was supposed to be a short, easy day.

It’s the first birthday of one of Nekomata’s grandchildren, so the old man decide not to program any surgery, all Tetsuro had to do was come in and check on the post-ops.

He sighs, so long for easy.

It can still be short though, Tetsuro tells himself, even as he peeks around corners and walks at a totally inappropriate pace down the corridors in the basement of the hospital, clutching his sweater.

-which smells unfairly good-

Like Tsukishima could have gotten here faster than him.

He scoffs at himself, it’s around the time the radiologists take their morning coffee, he can only hope they are as predictable as usual today. As it turns out, they are, he finds Kenma sitting in the dark, eating spicy chips from a bag, and playing with his handheld console.

“Kitty?” he says carefully into the room, trying not to startle him.

Kenma pauses the game and looks up, the light tips of his hair dyed blue by the light coming from the console. “When are you going to stop calling me that?” his brow furrows. “We’re not in junior high anymore.” Still, he gestures for Tetsuro to come in.

He doesn’t dither, closing the door behind his body and flopping down on one of the cushy chairs -the radiology department always has the best ones, gods, they’re heaven- throwing his head over the back of the chair, groaning.

“I take it you spoke to Tsukishima?” Kenma says, unpausing the game. Tetsuro groans in response. “So, he was ignoring you?”

“I guess.” Tetsuro takes a deep breath. “He’s not the easiest person to talk to.”

“So you two didn’t talk?” Kenma frowns at something in the screen before there’s a beeping sound and he sets it down beside him and bends down to rummage through his bag for the charger.

“No, I mean I asked him, he said he was just busy.” He laughs mirthlessly. “Then I asked him if he wanted to end this, he asked me if _I_ wanted to and-“

Now that he thinks about it, it was quite a confusing, unfulfilling conversation. Tetsuro brings one of his hands up to his face and drags it down. “Kuro, did you two break up?” Kenma asks softly.

“Did we ever date?” he asks, voice rough. “I mean, we didn’t. So…”

“So?” And he can hear the leading tone of the question but Tetsuro is really not up for this right now.

“So it’s fine, I guess.”

“Hmm.” Kenma pokes the console, what little Tetsuro can see of his face due to the light coming from the many computer screens in the room not looking convinced at all.

“Just tell me.” He urges, fingers drumming on a nearby table. “Don’t to that disapproving ‘you figure out why I think you’re being silly’ thing, I went to sleep at three am and my brain is not up for that.”

“I thought you liked him.” He says simply, shrugging as he pokes at the on button on the console again. “I mean, I know you had that stupid rule about not dating hospital staff, but as a friend.”

Tetsuro stops for a second, he takes a deep breath. “I do, he's snarky and funny, and he thinks hospital gossip is bullshit which I have always appreciated.” He sighs. “But I don’t think he saw me like that. That was the big surprise y’know? I kept waiting for him to get clingy, but I think I was the one that did.”

The console finally turns on and Kenma makes a noncommittal sound. “Well, it seems to me that, for all you guys got up to, you have no idea how to talk to each other.”

“I-“

The door behind Tetsuro swings open, and in come one of Kenma’s attendings and Kunimi, one of the first-year residents.

The conversation was pretty much over anyway, and he still has a few notes to do upstairs… Or in the ORs, yeah, definitely in the ORs, he doesn’t want to run into Tsukishima right now, and at least until he’s feeling a little less irritated

.

.

_**FROM: ME -11:34** _

_~~Can we meet?~~ _

_~~Are you fre-~~ _

_~~Where are you?~~ _

_~~I’m sor-~~ _

_Do you have a minute?_

_**FROM: KUROO TETSURO GS -11:39** _

_Yea_

_**FROM: ME -11:42** _

_Uh, can we meet somewhere?_

_**FROM: KUROO TETSURO GS -11:48** _

_I’m in the ORs._

_Like in the computers where we type the notes._

Kei stares at the messages.

Ok, that’s fair, he got caught off guard and in result was a bit of an ass.

He deserves it, and actually, if he was Kuroo he wouldn’t have answered at all. Or at least until after working hours.

So Kei heads to the ORs, the lady in charge of handing off the uniforms and stuff gives him an odd look when he hands her his hospital ID, but that isn’t strange. It does state in bold, green letters that he’s a pathology resident.

Tadashi’s words are still ringing in his ears as he slips out of his regular clothes and into the surgical scrubs. They are too wide on him, as Kuroo said, Kei has lost weight laying around all day -he's the kind that loses muscle before gaining fat-. He sighs and slips the cap over his hair and the shoe covers over his sneakers.

He shoves the facemask in the pocket of the scrubs and walks in. He’s not going to be entering the actual OR area, so there’s no reason to put it one.

The place is fairly empty, this close to lunchtime everyone is usually already lining up at the cafeteria if they aren’t stuck in surgery, he remembers Kuroo telling him that before at some point.

The man himself is not hard to spot at all, even with the cap -the one with the Deadpools that he likes- over his head, Kuroo has an imposing presence with his wide back and lean arms.

Kei sighs, he’s diving into this without a plan.

Tadashi’s words ring in his ears again.

_‘I thought you were fond of him’_

.

.

Tetsuro honestly doesn't believe he’s going to come.

Until he does.

The scrubs hang off his slim, almost bony frame, and he looks all too uncomfortable in the OR getup.

Tsukishima takes a seat on the free chair beside him. “Kuroo.”

Tetsuro hums at him, lifting his index finger at the man as he finishes the note he is currently working on. It’s petty, he knows, but he feels justified in being upset.

Tsukishima’s golden eyes peer at him behind the thick frames of his glasses, embarrassed. He takes a deep breath and stops for a second, steeling himself. It’s such a far cry from the defensive, annoyed one from the oncology floor that it gives Tetsuro chills.

“Look, I wasn’t mad,” he says, sighing. “And I was rude back there.” He loos away and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I apologize.”

And he’s so stiff, so nervous that even through the annoyance, Tetsuro softens a little. “Look if you wanted to end it you should've just told me.” He says, without looking away from the screen, fingers taping a the keyboard. “I’ve been doing this for a while longer than you.”

The blond surges forward, but hesitates at the last moment. “I- didn’t think we would still…” he sighs, gesturing at his stomach. “I haven’t been up to it... you know better than me.”

Tetsuro rolls his eyes, really? That’s the flimsiest excuse he’s ever heard. “Oh c’mon like we couldn’t do other things.” He shoots a warm glance at Tsukishima. “And you know that.” The blond blushes up to the root of his hair and his head whips around to confirm that no one else heard that.

Tsukishima sighs and he looks down as if to try and hide the flush that’s high on his cheeks. “Well… yes but…. I kind of felt like an ass.” Tetsuro turns his head to him, an eyebrow raised at the man. “Ok, fine, I was an ass either way.”

He makes to get up, eyes downcast, hands balled into fists. He _could_ let him go, doesn’t mean they can’t talk later. But then, that might end in a couple of polite interactions, and then, knowing the blond he’ll go back to his usual and never show up in Tetsuro’s life again.

And fuck, he’s got it _bad_ , doesn’t he? And something, little as it is, in the back of his head tells him that he might have a chance, he just hasn’t been going about it right so far -although in his defense this staged sort of epiphany has taken like three weeks to develop fully-. “But like, we could be friends?” he keeps his eyes on a nearby window, like he doesn’t really care, like it’s just a passing thought. “I mean you’re fun to hang out.”

Stunned, Tsukishima falls back on the chair. “I…” he swallows and his eyes search Tetsuro’s face, surely looking for the joke, the jab, but there isn’t one. “I like hanging out with you too.” He offers, and then haughtily. “I guess.”

“Well, that’s that.” Tetsuro looks back at the computer screen, pursing his lips at the mountain of typos he has committed since the conversation started. “Don’t worry Tsukki, I have thick skin.”

The blond stands, he dithers around for a second, Tetsuro can see his fingers twitch beside him. “I guess I’ll see you around,” Tsukishima says, sounding a lot calmer than before.

It physically hurts for him not to look up but he forces his eyes to remain on the screen. “See you.” And then Tsukishima leaves. Once he hears the door to the dressing rooms close, Tetsuro lets his head drop on the place between the keyboard and the table.

He really has missed the other, and _fuck_ he’s not the kind of person to hide from his own feelings in the first place. Kuroo Tetsuro has feelings for Tsukishima Kei, and he’s going to take a chance on this. For a second, uncertainty fills him, but if that doesn’t work he might still get a friend out of this.

Now he just has to think of the _how._

_._

_._

Ok.

Oh- _fucking_ -kay.

Kei gets home, he robotically eats mint chocolate-chip ice cream for lunch. It’s not until he’s curled p on the couch with Rex and has about seven tabs of scholarly articles open on his browser that Kei mutters. “What the _hell_ just happened?”

Rex meows at him, like it’s supposed to be an answer.

Kei’s eyes narrow ”You’re one to talk, you have it easy.” He says, stroking the soft fur of the cat’s back.

That was the very best outcome, he knows and he can admit that if Kuroo had just told him to fuck off it would have hurt, even if Kei was an ass to him and Kuroo had every right to not want to talk to him anymore. But it still somewhat feels weird. It wasn’t his intention to cut things off with Kuroo, but if there was no way to set a boundary there, maybe it’s better to be the guy’s friend anyway.

After all, Kei wasn’t lying when he said that he would like it.

If anything it was getting hard to keep avoiding spending time with Kuroo outside of sex, especially on nights like that last one.

So yes.

It’s fine.

He spends the rest of the afternoon finishing his article, feeling restless, and drinking way too much coffee. Somehow he can’t seem to settle or concentrate, though all that’s left to do is organize the references. It’s getting dark outside by the time that Kei 

closes the document sighing, it’s going to be at most ten more minutes of work tomorrow, but he’s really not up to it right now.

He stretches and the healed wound on his belly twinges a little, his eyes drip to his phone, which has remained silent all afternoon. Maybe it’s on silent mode? He picks it up, it isn’t, all he has are a few messages from Tadashi saying he’s coming by later tonight and a couple from Akiteru, asking if Kei knows what kind of place he might take that one surgeon to dinner.

Which, why would he?

But maybe it’s a good excuse to text Kuroo, after all, Kei was the rude one. It would be the polite thing to do, right?

But it also sounds like he’s only writing because he wants something? Kei checks the conversation, neither has written the other in the past three days, yeah definitely too abrupt.

Sighing, he scrolls up the conversation, eyes trailing over Kuroo’s little messages, and a wave of guilt washes over him. God, he was an ass.

He arrives at the picture of the cat in the little bear costume from that night and an idea hits him. His cheeks burn at what he’s about to do, but nothing else seems as good.

So Kei proceeds to spent forty minutes rummaging through the boxes in the spare room, making his rhinitis act up form the sheer amount of dust that has accumulated in them in the past six months before he finds the bright green frog onesie.

He gets at least two scratches on his arm getting Rex into it -at least he’s the right size for it now- and Kei just knows a little furred someone is going to try and tear off his toes tonight in retaliation, but the resulting photos are suitably cute.

_**FROM: ME -18:31** _

_**image attached**_

_I forgot I had this._

_Uh, hey btw._

_My brother is taking out that scary surgeon lady, do you know what kinds of restaurants she likes?_

_._

_._

Tetsuro’s eyes follow the lines of the message several times -and they stop over the admittedly very cute, angry-looking cat in the photo many more, though that may be because he’s clearly sitting on Tsukishima’s legs and he is only wearing shorts- maybe he could play aloof for a little while…

Nah, that's more work and he didn’t think Tsukishima would take the first step. In any case, it feels like progress.

“What’s got you smiling like that Bro?” Bokuto asks, flopping down on the couch beside him, all thick muscles in a tank top and shorts that no one should be wearing when not at the beach. “Did you already make up with blondie?” he says, peering over Tetsuro’s shoulders- “That was fast.”

“We’re friends now Bo.”

Bokuto scoffs. “Right, you’re planning to woo him again.”

“I’m planning to woo him right.” Tetsuro protests. “And it’s working! He texted me first and look-“

“Aww, that’s his cat? So cute.” Bokuto coos at the screen. “And those are some nice legs.” He says, grin toothy. “Almost nicer than Akaashi’s.”

“Who has nicer legs than me?” said man calls, padding out of the kitchen with three beers in his hands. Bokuto snatches the phone out of Tetsuro’s hands and shoves it into Akaashi's, grabbing the bottles as he goes. “Oh, they are nice.” Akaashi shoots him a look and Tetsuro reddens. “When are you introducing him to us?”

“We’re just friends now.” Tetsuro counters.

Akaashi shakes his head. “I wouldn't send a picture in those shorts to anyone I wasn't interested in.”

“He probably just doesn’t care, I've seen him naked anyways.”

But Akaashi hums disapprovingly and then Bokuto perks up. “Hey hey hey, I’ve got an idea.” He shouts. “Wait here.”

Said idea turns out to involve waking Micchan -the pomeranian that one of Akaashi’s aunts dropped on them upon discovering he rather liked to eat shoes- and slip him in his Christmas costume -a reindeer-, then convince him through treats and pets to lie on Tetsuro's chest.

“This is going to look so staged.” He complains as a little wet tongue runs over his cheek. “It’s not even Christmas, why is he wearing antlers?”

“Because the other costumes don’t fit him anymore.” Bokuto prods him in the side. “Now act like you’re petting him and not totally afraid of his little pointy teeth.

“I am hella afraid of its little pointy teeth,” Tetsuro says, inching his face away from the dog. “I still have that scar on my butt.”

“And I told you that was me.” Bokuto protests.

“Is your jaw half as wide as a snickers bar Bo?” The door licks him again and Tetsuro is shaking by now, those shiny little black eyes, it’s tasting him before it goes in for a bite.

“Hmm.” Akaashi is kneeling on the carpet by his head, he leans over and tugs the bottom of Tetsuro’s top up, so part of his side is uncovered in a way that manages to look casual somehow. “There.”

“Seriously, you two...” he says, as Bokuto snaps a few pictures of him.

“You gotta introduce him to us Kuroo.” The owl says. “I know! Why don’t you tell him to come to the gym with you?”

“He just underwent abdominal surgery, Bo,” Tetsuro grumbles, but then realizes it’s not such a bad idea. “But maybe next month when he’s healed.”

In the end, most of the photos end up unusable, from being blurry or Tetsuro making really unflattering expressions as Michhan tries to lick him with his little wet tongue. The only salvageable one has him trying to grin at the camera why the godforsaken dog tries to tear his scrubs, it looks a bit too staged but he can admit he also looks hot so…

_**FROM: ME -19:18** _

_So cute Tsukki! Why’d you never show me that!_

_**image attached**_

_I was just at a friend’s and you inspired them to dress their puppy. :D_

_And for Saeko sensei._

_She likes red meat._

_The rarer, the better._

_And sake_

_**FROM: TSUKISHIMA KEI -19:20** _

_Oh that’s-_

_Cute, cute dog._

_You look decent_

_Did he rip your scrubs?_

_Also, I didn’t remember Yamaguchi giving that costume to me so._

_Thank you, I’ll pass that along_

_**FROM: ME -19:25** _

_His name is Micchan_

_And he just slobbered all over it._

_And me._

_D:_

_No harm._

_And here I thought I looked nice._

_Well, I believe I deserve more photos._

_Tell him to not worry, she spends her days bragging about him and calling him ‘cute’. º-º_

_**FROM: TSUKISHIMA KEI -19:28** _

_Eugh._

_That’s why I like cats_

_You look how you always look_

_**image attached**_

_He fell asleep in it._

_Ooooookay_

_I did not need to know that._

_He says thank you for soothing his nerves._

_But I’m pretty sure he’s going to wear leather to that date._

**_._ **

**_._ **

_It's like in the picture, except there's no dog._

_Kuroo is lying on a beige couch, a delightful contrast between it and the navy blue of his slacks._

_And his skin._

_And Kei is suddenly hungry, for that sliver of his side that the fabric so casually exposes._

_It's not fair, Kuroo tells him to be his friend and then lets Kei see him looking like that._

_Deep hazel eyes drift to him and Kei is drawn to him, his legs work on his own and he's swinging one over the other's hip, the way he did that first night, hands sliding under the top of the scrubs, fingers spreading out bushing softly over the man's nipples._

_"Thought you didn't want me Shortcake." The man says, a smug smirk adorning his handsome face._

_Kei shakes his head, leaning in, breathing that musky scent in. "I never said that Kuroo, you assumed." he reminds him softly, every second more and more tempted by those lips._

_The man shrugs, still making no move to touch Kei, making him feel like he's about to go crazy. "Well forgive me for asking." It's a purr, an invitation, the air seems to tremble with tension._

_Kei leans in to kiss him, but one of those hands plants on his chest to stop him. "So, Shortcake, do you want me?" and the look in those eyes is devilish, Kuroo's thumb is rubbing sensual circles around Kei's hard right nipple. The couch under them morphs into a bed, Kuroo's bed, one Kei has only ever been in once -his place is a lot closer to the hospital and he feels more secure here, after all- and Kei whines, he rocks his hips against Kuroo's were he can feel him, just as hard as he is. "What do you think?"_

_"Nah, I wanna hear it." He says, and Kei wonders why not? He has said it before._

_It's easy like this, it's easy, he dips his head down, running the tip of his nose over the warm ridges of Kuroo's neck. "I want you," he says, when he gets to those lips and his gaze meets Kuroo's. He stays there, lips hovering over his, stubbornly looking into his eyes, daring him to hunch up and kiss him. But Kuroo doesn't, he doesn't and Kei pulls away. "But you don't." He feels his body cool, lock up suddenly he's embarrassed, what is he doing on top of Kuroo?_

_"Never said that." the man says and Kei shivers at the iron behind his words, the way hi eyes drift to the side. Like Kei is some poor child to whom things can't be said directly to._

_"I-" he scrambles up but the bed melts under him, like quicksand, his legs sink into it and he reaches up to Kuroo._

_And then something pointy, something sharp pierces his foot, the pain runs up his leg and Kei feels so cold._

He shoots up in his own bed, covers thrown to the floor, sweat cooling on his body. At the foot of the bed, Rex stares up at him innocently with Kei's toe between its tiny sharp teeth.

Kei almost thanks the cat for waking him up.

He pads over to the kitchen, eager for a cup of that herbal tea that Tadashi got him for Christmas.

In the back of his head, the word _friend_ resonates, at times ominous, at times hopeful.

Always in Kuroo's voice.

.

.

_**FROM: ME -04:35** _

_**quoted story**_

_Heavy program today?_

_**FROM: KUROO TETSURO -04:37** _

_Yup, getting ahead on the post-ops. ;)_

_You know I’m efficient. :P_

_Or I’m not gonna be out until like two am tomorrow._

_And then I have tomorrow night too._

_Can’t sleep?_

_**FROM: ME -04:40** _

_That heavy, huh?_

_Have breakfast?_

_Yeah, nightmare._

_My sleep cycle is fucked too._

_I can't wait to get back_

_**FROM: KUROO TETSURO -04:45** _

_Worse Tsukki, one word._

_Whipples. D:_

_Like plural._

_Coffee_

_Aww, wanna tell me?_

_You should start taking melatonin._

_I mean, you can._

_You don’t do nights._

_Woow you’re sounding like me. -.-_

_**FROM: ME -04:48** _

_That would've been good news for me_

_:(_

_But really, eat, I’ll tell Kozume._

_That’s actually a good idea._

_I might, I’m going nuts._

_**FROM: KUROO TETSURO -04:53** _

_Tsukki you used an emoji._

_I’m so proud!!_

_:D_

_I die._

_But really, You had what? Thirty days?_

_You can brave ten more._

_Fiiine_

_But for the record Kenma’s as bad as me_

_You don’t have sway over him cuz you’re two doors down._

_**FROM: ME -04:57** _

_Shut up_

_-.-_

_You know you’d be worse._

_Ten days after twenty is a lot._

_Go eat._

_I’ll try to sleep._

_**FROM: KUROO TETSURO -05:00** _

_Oh, I know._

_I broke my leg in first year._

_Ushijima had to threaten me to get me to stay still._

_And he’s_ scary.

_I’ll eat._

_Sweet dreams Tsukki._

_Ttyl._

**Author's Note:**

> And we've got a little angst... and determined!Kuroo, which will make the next few installments very dynamic.  
> I always love to read what y'all think of these. I try to answer all comments.  
> (Oh, and that Pom totally sleeps on Bo's chest)
> 
> Love, Kyrye


End file.
